JUSTICE

"Construction of this building lasted one year. Prisoners have all necessary conditions for living, and employees have necessary conditions for working. I have worse living conditions in my house," the former chairman of the Penitentiary System, Bacho Akhalaia, declared exactly a year ago on December 24, when he showed off detention and isolation cells in Kutaisi.

On December 5, this year, in the village of Ganmukhuri in Zugdidi district, representatives of the Fast Reaction Military Unit within the Georgian Interior Ministry, arrested Fridon Chakaberia, the head of the Administration of the village of Kvemo Barghebi in Gali district.

The facts of transferring one's private property to the state have been increased in Kakheti. The activity is called kind of "Reket" (raiding) by opposition. Sighnaghi District is the leader in granting the private properties to the state. There, the entrepreneurs transfer not only their Ltds, but their own houses as well.

The day before yesterday, it was a funeral of Valeri Pkhakadze, who was killed by patrol policeman. Ivane Kapatadze shot the drunken nineteen-year-old man. Pkhakadze died of losing great amount of blood in the Interventional Medical Centre of the Western Georgia.

Dedoflistskaro District Court found Giorgi Davituri, Davit Gogolauri and Gela Titilokashvili guilty for robbery. The condemned do not plead themselves guilty. They injured themselves in protest. Giorgi Davituri sewed up his mouth with wire and Gogolauri stubbed himself with rusty nail in his abdomen and tore out his vena.

According to the Parliament's decision, the reserve service has become obligatory for every man in Georgia. Thus, everyone who has already served in the army will have to do the same once more. The draft law was voted through at the first hearing. Subsequently, those who avoid service will be charged under the criminal law.

One broken chair and table, two gifted beds and several plates…these are the whole property of a family with six children. They live in Besiki Street in Gurjaani. Their house has the badly damaged roof. Three years old Luka and six-month-old twins, Sopho and Nino, have to live in a damp and cold room.

The chairman of the Supreme Court, Kote Kublashvili, has limited the number of people who can attend the trial. Parliamentary Opposition called it an unprecedented overreach and suggested abolishing it. Kublashvili recommended the opposition calm down and get up early in order to be admitted to trial.

On November 20, Zugdidi District Court with the judge Nato Akobia and the prosecutor Beka Facacia discussed the criminal case on the juvenile Davit Zarandia, who was born in Zugdidi, in 1990. On July 22, 2006, the court bailed Davit Zarandia for 3,000 GEL instead of imprisonment for thievery.

People are still taken hostage in Samegrelo. Two similar accidents have taken place this week. On November 29, four armed and masked robbers attacked Mikheil Chanturia's family in the village of Etseri in Tsalenjikha District. The robbers demanded money. They had known that the Chanturias had a large amount of money at home since they had sold honey several days before. The neighbors called the district police when the robbery was taking place. The police laid siege on the Chanturias' house. The robbers seized Mikheil Chanturia as they fired at police in response. Tengiz Gunava, the Chief of the Regional Police Department, arrived with the tactical response unit to the scene half an hour later.

Davit Tabutsadze, the Chief of the Shida Kartli Police was attacked by Mamuka Imerlishvili, the head of one of the divisions in the Police Department. Imerlishvili burst into Tabutsadze's office and shot at him seven times without hitting him once.

Georgian population of the Abkhazia coped with additional problems during the citrus season. They are to give certain amount of their harvest to the de-facto Abkhazian Government. Beside that, they were trafficked in Abkhaz families.

Lawyers for the NGO 'Human Rights Center's Kakheti office, blame the officials from the Telavi Regional Tax Inspection for breaching the law. The reason for the charge was the summons sent to the entrepreneurs several days ago. According to the document we received, by October 1, 2006, small and standard enterprises, and commercial organizations have gone into serious debts to the state budget since 1996. Entrepreneurs, who died two and three years ago, include the list. Their descendents face the danger of being left homeless.

Last week, representatives of NGOs and journalists from the regions of Georgia drew up urgent appeal to the president. They asked Mikheil Saakashvili to draw his attention to Giorgi Mikiashvili’s case. The appeal was supported from Abkhazia, Samachablo, Russia [Moscow] and so-called Saingilo in Azerbaijan.

On November, 14 controversy was caused by spilling the wine in the factory of Georgian-Italian Company 'Badagoni'. The operation was organized by General Inspection within the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture and Financial Police Kakheti Department. Investors declared that the special operation was a provocation against the development of independent business in the country.

Yesterday, Khelvachauri District Governor, Gocha Shervashidze was detained in the courtroom. The prosecutor blames him for 'illegally purchased plots'. According to the initial information Prosecutor refused plea bargain with Shervashidze and the latter faces ten-year imprisonment. He has already been sentenced to two-month pre-trial detention.

Traffickers use Azerbaijan and Georgia as principal transit countries for their activities. However, residents from these countries become the victims quite frequently. Statistics for 2005 stated the following: 231 trafficked girls, 58 apprehended traffickers and 14 organized trafficking groups.

Georgian Parliament is starting an intensive fight against drug sellers. Several laws will be amended. According to the amendments, drug sellers' property would be confiscated, fines on the offenders will be increased, and abettors of drug sales will be severely punished. A person punished for the crime would be prohibited from working for some time. Besides that, drug sellers will not be allowed to carry a gun for the next ten years.

Elene Lezhava applied to 'Human Rights Information and Documentation Centre' in Gori. She was housed in the former Drug Addiction Centre in Kombinati District. According to Ms. Elene, she and her bed-ridden mother were evicted from their house and have not been able to have their case heard since then.